Searching for the White Lion Genetic Marker

One of the key questions to be addressed in the quest to protect the White Lions is why some lions in the Timbavati and southern Kruger Park were born white rather than the standard tawny colour. The occurrence of different coloured morphs is controlled by the relative frequency of the genes that determine coat colour within populations. The gene resulting in the manifestation of white fur is recessive, and requires two parents carrying the recessive gene to mate for some or all of the offspring to have white fur. Determining which gene is involved in this process and its frequency within the population is extremely challenging due to the sheer number of genes that need to be tested. The WLT’s scientists, however, believe that this painstaking process is essential to assess the long-term viability of the remaining white lions in the wild.

WLT Lion Ecologist, Jason Turner has been collaborating with Conservation Ecologists, Dr Dan Forman and Carolyn Greig from the Institute of Environmental Sustainability at Swansea University. Their mission: to screen lion DNA to identify which gene controls the white coat colour that makes these lions unique. Using DNA extracted from fur samples of white lions, two candidate genes known to cause white coloration in other mammals, the melanocritin-1 receptor gene and melophilin, have initially been screened using molecular techniques. Preliminary results indicate that neither of these genes are likely to control white fur colour in lions and so, further screening will have to be undertaken before an answer can be found.